Ten years and 5,410 hours were spent by the Stan Hywet Needlework Guild reproducing the set of 17th-century embroidered bed linens once used in the Manor House. Now, the exact replicas of the seven-piece set can be seen in the Cromwell Room, a stop on the estate’s Nooks and Crannies Tour. The complicated process to reproduce the bedding involved researching the original crewelwork stitches, creating a pattern, reproducing missing portions that had been damaged, and commissioning historically accurate fabric and yarns.

Hugo Huber, Interior Decorator for Stan Hywet, bought the original set in New York in 1916 from an antiques dealer, Schmitt Brothers. The set included a bedspread (called a counterpane), bed curtains, valances and dust ruffles. In 1982, during an inventory of Manor House items, the badly worn set was discovered. When Stan Hywet consulted a textile conservation firm, they discovered the linens were made in the 1600s, but their place of origin could not be determined. The cost to repair them, about $20,000 in today’s dollars, was prohibitive. The Stan Hywet Foundation approached the Needlework Guild in 2004 asking if we could re-create the linens for display. It’s needlework; so, of course, we said “yes.” We felt it was a way of giving back to Stan Hywet. Guild members supplied the labor, and the Guild funded the project using proceeds from its needlework show, Stitchery Showcase.

To reproduce the 400-year-old linens, all materials had to be historically accurate from the twill-weave linen to the hand-dyed indigo yarn used to stitch the design. Two years were spent on research and preparation, including the commission of Thistle Hill Weavers in Cherry Valley, NY, for weaving the twill fabric and the spinning and dyeing of the yarn. As a cost-savings, we decided to have the cloth woven in a broader width using machines instead of the 17th-century method of weaving a narrower width by hand. The wider width was cut into panels that matched the width of the originals. The thickness of wool needed to be considered. It was thinner than the original yarn, so we stitched using two strands, being careful to keep them from twisting incorrectly. The historically accurate indigo dye rubbed off the yarn onto the stitchers’ hands as it was used, and the yarn had to be sent back for redyeing.

During planning, we made several improvements to the original design. The size of the counterpane was modified to allow it to be placed in different ways on the bed to decrease damage from sun exposure and creasing from folds. The side-curtain panel sizes were changed to a uniform size, and extra valances were made so they could be rotated to conserve them.

Our next step was to create the pattern for stitching the crewelwork. The tracing group made exact copies of the original pieces onto tissue paper. The design was then transferred onto clear Mylar. Working over a giant lightbox, the design was carefully traced a third time from the Mylar onto the new linen using acid-free archival pens. Joyce Feucht, a Guild member and artist, designed a pattern for a damaged counterpane section after carefully studying the original to determine what was lost.

Since the stitching had to be consistent, our members had to audition their stitching. Only those who had similar stitching styles and tension were chosen to work on the project. For the next six years, these chosen women met at least once a week, but often more frequently, in the third-floor dormitory to work on the linens. No gloves could be worn while stitching, so regular hand washing was done to avoid damaging the fabric. The linens were stored in totes between sessions to protect them from dust and pollen as a clean work environment was a must. The counterpane was embroidered in two halves and then joined together with embroidery done over the seam. Signatures of the women who worked on the project were stitched into a seam of the counterpane along with the start and end dates of the crewelwork embroidery and the hours it took to complete. This was definitely a labor of love!

On January 22, 2013, the final stitches were taken, and in March, 2013, the reproductions were unveiled to the public.

Akron Beacon Journal